


Head Over Heels

by Athetos



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, High School AU, adora plays volleyball because it's the only sport i'm knowledgeable about, glimmer is perpetually embarassed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23463058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athetos/pseuds/Athetos
Summary: Four times Glimmer's crush on Adora was way too obvious, and the one time she actually did something about it.  High School AU.
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 67





	Head Over Heels

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Day 2 of Glimadora week - I chose the dialogue prompt "Me? Liking Adora? Oh c'mon, don't be absurd!"

Glimmer and Bow were in the middle of a late night Netflix binge, the two teens sprawled out on the floor of Glimmer’s room, a half-eaten pizza and empty soda bottles beside them. As the credits of the hilariously bad romcom they watched scrolled down the screen, the girl grabbed her Playstation controller and went back to the streaming site’s menu.

“Whatcha’ thinking next, Bow? Another shitty heterosexual comedy, or a horror movie? I think they added that new Ari Astor film…” 

Bow stretched, arching his back and lifting his arms overhead. “Hm… tempting. It’s almost three A.M. though. Do you think it’s a good idea to watch a horror movie during the Witching Hour?” 

“Honestly, I think any horror movie would be less scary than watching another romance film about a pathetic straight man trying to woo an obviously uninterested woman who suddenly comes around during the last fifteen minutes.” 

Bow nodded in agreement. “True.” He paused, thoughtful. “Doesn’t Adora like horror movies? Maybe next week we can invite her and watch some then.” 

Glimmer blushed. Adora was the tall, muscular captain of her school’s Varsity Volleyball team. For a long time, Glimmer and just observed her admiringly from afar, until they wound up sitting next to each other in the same chemistry class. They were paired up for several lab experiments, and found out that they had way more in common than either could have expected. It turned out Adora wasn’t just hot, but she was also super smart, had great taste in music, and had a smile that made Glimmer’s insides twist up into a pretzel. Before long, Adora had been introduced to her friend group, and was now considered one of the squad - much to the annoyance of Adora’s teammates.

“I don’t know Bow… Adora’s always so busy…” 

Bow rolled his eyes. “You’re just coming up with excuses. Even if she is busy, there’s no downside to inviting her. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Glimmer thought, _She comes over and I’m so nervous I make a fool of myself and then she never wants to talk to me again._ Out loud, she said, “I don’t know, I just don’t want to bother her, I guess.”

Bow placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Glimmer. You should really ask her to do something, though. This crush is going to be the death of you.”

The girl jerked away from her friend, her face flushed. “Me? Liking Adora? Oh c’mon, that’s absurd!” 

Bow laughed, causing Glimmer’s face to heat up even more. “Really? Glim, you’re so obvious!”

“No I’m not!”

“You’re constantly zoning out in class because you’re staring at her.” 

“So? Is it a crime to look at a friend?”

“Every day you find something to loudly compliment about her appearance. This morning before class, you told her you liked her shoelaces.”

“They were purple! Purple is the best color!”

“You doodle ‘G & A Forever’ inside a heart in the corners of your math notebook.”

“Well… I mean…”

“And don’t even get me started on what’s written in your diary - “

_“You’ve read my diary?!”_

Glimmer swatted at Bow, who laughed and rolled away. 

“Look, the point is, you have a massive crush on Adora, and you need to actually act on it. Or else I’ll have to spend the entire rest of senior year watching you hopelessly flirt with her while she remains oblivious, and I truly don’t think I can handle that.”

Glimmer sighed and looked away. “Maybe… Maybe I’ll invite her. But no promises. I’m not even sure if she likes girls…”

“She drinks iced coffee when it’s zero degrees out. I’m pretty sure she likes girls.” 

\--------

Glimmer hated orchestra practice. Sure, she loved playing violin, but being forced to spend an hour after school playing Dvorak and Bach was exhausting and boring. Just once, she wanted to play a piece that she actually liked. But she knew her mom would throw a fit if she quit, so she put up with it, by spending the entire class staring at the clock on the wall, waiting for 4:30 to come around. This, of course, caused her to miss a lot of her cues, but hey, nobody else seemed to take the rehearsals too seriously either - except for their conductor.

As soon as the minute hand clicked over the six, almost everyone in the orchestra began to set down their instruments and shuffle together their sheet music, shoving them haphazardly into their black music folders, even though they were still in the middle of a piece. The perpetually annoyed teacher, realizing that she would never be able to keep her students focused now, just sighed and told everyone to pack up and go home.

After carefully putting away her violin, Glimmer left the music room, and headed down the hallway towards the parking lot exit, hoping to meet Bow at her car. Along the way, she passed the gym, and slowed down to look through the open doors. There was volleyball practice today, and she knew Adora would be there. 

They were practicing by splitting the team into two groups of four, and volleying back and forth. She watched as Catra - Adora’s childhood friend - set the ball towards the net. Adora took a few steps backwards, then launched herself towards the net and leapt nearly two feet in the air, neatly spiking the ball to the opposite side of the court. The opposing team tried to keep the ball in the air, but the spike was too fast and unexpected. Adora’s small team cheered, and they all slapped high fives.

Glimmer’s heart skipped a beat, and she could swear she was starry-eyed right now. _Adora is so cool… how does she even jump that high?_

“Enjoying the gun show?”

Startled, Glimmer jumped backwards, and nearly crashed into the blue-haired woman behind her. It was Mermista, the chronically bored viola player who was famous for managing to fall asleep during orchestra rehearsal, much to their conductor’s ire. 

“Wh-What do you mean?”

Mermista shrugged. “You know. Hot women in sleeveless shirts. I watch them sometimes too.”

Glimmer was flustered. “I wasn’t watching them like that!” 

Mermista smirked. “Oh, I see. You were only watching Adora.”

Glimmer’s heart leapt into her throat. “No! I don’t like Adora! Not like that, she’s just a friend, that’s all.” 

“You, like, totally have a thing for her.”

“No I don’t!” Glimmer was indignant. _First Bow figures it out, and now Mermista of all people? Am I really that obvious?_

“Whatever.” Mermista cast her gaze back towards the players in the gym. “If you don’t, then maybe I’ll ask Adora out.” 

Glimmer felt as though her stomach had turned itself inside out, and her heart was white hot with jealousy and mediocrity. Mermista was way prettier than her… There was no way she could compete with the sardonic girl. If Adora had to choose between them, Glimmer feared she’d choose Mermista in a heartbeat. 

A few long moments must have passed while Glimmer sullenly pondered this, because Mermista waved her hands in front of her face. “Hello? Earth to Glimmer? I was just joking. Adora’s cute, but she’s not my type. You’re safe.” 

The jealousy quickly left Glimmer’s body, leaving her feeling empty, annoyed, and embarrassed. “Well, she’s not my type either, because I don’t have a crush on her! So…” 

Mermista laughed. “Again, whatever. See you tomorrow.” She walked away, leaving Glimmer still standing in the doorway to the gym, blushing and irritated. 

\-------

History was another one of Glimmer’s least favorite classes. Part of it was because she couldn’t remember dates or names to save her life. Another part of it was because they had to read from the driest, most uninteresting textbook in the world. But most of it was because Glimmer’s mom was the teacher.

At first, Glimmer thought taking her mom’s class wouldn’t be that bad - after all, there was no way her mother would call her out in front of a class of thirty kids, right? But, sadly, she was wrong, and if anything, her mom held her to a higher standard than the other students. 

Absolutely unfair.

Her mom was presenting a powerpoint on the Revolutionary War. At least, Glimmer was pretty sure they were still talking about the Revolutionary War. She had no idea, because she had spent almost the entire class alternating between watching Adora and daydreaming about going on a date with her. The blonde sat diagonally to her, and she took dutiful notes, writing down every other thing her mother said. She was so cute when she paid attention, the way she tapped her pen lightly against the desk, how she mouthed the words out loud as she wrote them -

“Glimmer? Are you listening?”

The girl snapped to attention, looking up at her mom who was directly in front of her desk. She had managed to stand right in front of her without her noticing. She could hear the half-held back snickering of some of the other students, laughing at her for being picked on by her mom in the middle of lecture. _How embarrassing._

“Yes, I’m listening.”

“Then what was I talking about?”

“Uh…” Glimmer truthfully had no idea. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Adora looking at her, holding up her notes so that Glimmer could read off of them. She read the headline out loud. “The battle of Lexington.” 

Her mom narrowed her eyes. “That’s correct.” Turning away and marching towards the front of the room, she continued the lecture. Glimmer quietly thanked Adora, and the athlete gave her a thumbs up and a reassuring smile.

After the bell rang, announcing the end of the period, everyone scrambled to their feet and shoved their notebooks into their bags. Glimmer hoped to join the stream of teens leaving the room, but her mom had to make things difficult. “Glimmer, can we talk?”

She deflated. “Yes, mom.” She followed her mother to her desk at the back of the classroom, and waited for the rest of the students to file out so they were alone. “What do you want?”

“Is everything okay?” Her mom’s voice was kind. “You’ve been losing focus a lot lately, and I just want to make sure you’re feeling alright.” 

“Yeah, I’m okay, mom, I promise. History just isn’t the most fun subject in the world.” Glimmer fidgeted with her backpack straps. “Can I go now?”

Angella shook her head. “Just a moment, Glimmer. How are things going with Adora?”

“Good. We’re going to hang out at Bow’s this weekend. Now, can I - “

“She’s pretty cute, huh?”

“Mom!” Glimmer felt so awkward. “We’re friends!”

“You’ve been looking at her a lot, I -”

“No! I don’t want to have this conversation! Agh!” Glimmer raced out of the room, barely hearing her mom calling her to come back. _Even my mom knows now… Talk about humiliating!_

\-------

Was there anything more powerful than the hopelessly gay yearning of sharing your earbuds with your crush and listening to the same cheesy love song?

Glimmer decided that no, there wasn’t.

She and Adora were seated at the same table during study hall, and both girls were working on their homework that was assigned earlier that day. Well, Adora was working on it. Glimmer, on the other hand, was staring blankly at the worksheet in front of her, her heart pounding loud enough she was almost sure that Adora could hear it over the gentle guitar chords and piano harmony. 

Adora tapped her on the shoulder, and she managed to avoid flinching. “Hey, who does this song? It’s great! She has such a lovely voice!”

A smile bloomed on Glimmer’s face. “Oh, it’s by Netossa, she’s an up-and-coming artist from the city. All her music is so soft and romantic! I actually just got her new album, if you want I can lend it to you! 

Adora nodded happily. “Yeah, I would love that! I’ve been looking for some new music to listen to after practice, to wind down. I could give it back after I rip it onto my laptop.” 

“Awesome! Actually, it’s in my locker, I can go grab it right now!” 

“Are you sure? There’s still a half hour until the bell, and I don’t mind waiting, especially if you’re doing an assignment.”

“Nah, I wasn’t really making much progress with this, anyways.” Glimmer pushed her papers away from her and stood up. “I’ll be right back!” 

Grabbing a hall pass from their half-asleep teacher (they were seniors, why did they need hall passes still?), Glimmer practically skipped to her locker, humming excitedly, feeling a foot taller than she actually was. _This is only a single step away from making Adora a mixtape… Okay, yeah, I’m definitely doing that at some point._

As she struggled with the combination for the lock on her locker, she heard another student approach her.

“Hey, Sparkles.” 

Glimmer didn’t look up from her lock. “Hello, Catra. What do you want?” Catra had the same study hall as her, and must have followed her out of the room. The girl had been a thorn in her side for the past semester, always pestering her and getting her name wrong on purpose just to irritate her. The only reason Glimmer put up with the lanky athlete was because she was close to Adora - which was yet another reason why she annoyed her so much. Glimmer was quickly learning that she might be more jealous than she liked to let herself believe. 

“Just stopping by to ask what your game is.” Catra started inspecting her nails. _How can someone play volleyball when they basically have claws?_

Finally getting the combination right, Glimmer opened her locker, her chemistry textbook immediately falling out onto the floor. Her locker was far from clean, and boasted copious photos of her and Bow taped to the wall. Leaning over to grab the heavy book, Glimmer shot Catra a suspicious look. “What game? What are you talking about?”

Catra sighed. “Don’t play innocent with me. I know you have a crush on Adora.” 

Glimmer shoved her book into her locker and hid her blushing face behind the door. She wasn’t even too surprised Catra had put the pieces together, considering she was now the fourth person to call her out about it. “No I don't. Why does everyone think that? We’re just good friends.” 

“Oh come on, it’s so obvious to everyone but Adora. She’s too thick-headed to figure it out.”

Glimmer grabbed the CD from the top shelf, then slammed her locker door shut. “Well… even if I _did_ have a crush on Adora… why would it matter to you?” 

It was Catra’s turn to look self-conscious. “Look, Adora’s my best friend. We used to do everything together. And now, she’s too busy with you and the loser squad to hang out with me. I only see her during class and practice, and even then, she spends a good chunk of the time talking about you. I used to hate you, but I can’t even do that anymore, because Adora likes you too much. All I’m saying is, if you’re gonna steal her away from me, you better not break her heart. Or I’ll end you.” 

Glimmer had butterflies in her stomach. _Adora really likes me, that much?_ She met Catra’s intense glare. “I’m not trying to steal Adora from anyone. And you can’t own a person, Catra. She can do what she wants, and be friends with whoever she wants. But… I promise I won’t do anything to hurt her. Ever.” 

Catra softened. “Alright, Glitter, I believe you. Adora’s just been through a lot, and… well... It doesn’t matter right now. But she deserves to be happy. And… if she’s happiest with you, platonically or otherwise, then I support that.”

Glimmer nodded slowly. “Thank you, Catra. If it makes you feel better, she talks about you all the time, too. I would get kind of jealous about it, but, I guess you’ve been feeling the same way this whole time as well.” 

Catra looked around to make sure they were alone, then leaned in close. “Get roses.” 

“What?”

“Get her roses. Adora always jokes about how she wants someone to buy her flowers. She’s a basic bitch, so roses are her favorites.” 

Glimmer smiled, giddy at the thought of giving Adora a huge bouquet of rainbow roses. “Thank you, Catra. I appreciate it. A lot.”

Catra smirked. “Yeah, yeah. We should head back to study hall before the teacher gets pissed.”

Once returning, Catra took her seat back in the corner, and Glimmer plopped down next to Adora, still grinning. She handed her the album. “Here you go! You’ll have to text me later if you liked it!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you track by track commentary.” Adora’s smile put Glimmer’s head firmly up in the clouds.

\----

Glimmer anxiously waited outside the gym for volleyball practice to end. Behind her back, she held a bouquet of multicolored flowers. She skipped orchestra - gave her conductor a bullshit excuse about having an important club meeting - and went to the flower shop after classes ended. With the help of the florist, Glimmer had composed a bouquet of red, orange, yellow, white, pink, green, and purple roses, and then rushed back to school to catch Adora before she left. 

Nobody wanted to stay too late today, it seemed, because they ended practice early, and the majority of the team spilled out into the hallway. Catra was among them, and she nodded at Glimmer, in silent approval of her plan. Since Adora was the captain, she stayed later than the others, and was probably helping the coach put away the balls and net. 

The wait was almost excruciating, but after a few minutes Adora left the gym, still in uniform. She spotted Glimmer immediately. “Hey, Glim! What are you doing here? I thought orchestra ended a while ago.” 

Glimmer smiled nervously. “It did, but, I wanted to wait for you! I actually, um, I have, uh…” She trailed off, while Adora looked at her in confusion. “I… I got you something.”

Taking her arms out from behind her, she thrust the bouquet towards the taller woman. “It’s roses. I heard they were your favorite, so…”

“Oh, they’re beautiful!” You could practically see fireworks exploding in Adora’s eyes, she was so excited. “I love them so much! I didn’t even know they came in some of these colors!” She gingerly took the bouquet from Glimmer’s hands. “Thank you! What did I do to deserve these, though?”

“They’re for you, for being _you!”_ Glimmer was a lot less nervous now that she knew Adora loved the gift. “You’re one of my best friends, and I love spending time with you, and… I was wondering… would you want to go on a date sometime?” 

A ferocious blush spread across Adora’s cheeks. “Like… as a couple?”

“Yeah… if, and only if, that’s okay with you, of course!” Glimmer stammered out. 

“Oh, Glim, I would love to!” The captain pulled Glimmer into a huge hug, her arms wrapped tightly around the smaller girl’s shoulders. “You know, it’s funny”, she said, stepping away, “because… I was actually going to ask you on a date tonight, too.”

Glimmer’s entire body felt hot and red. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Adora chuckled. “But, I’m kind of a coward when it comes to these things, so I was going to ask over text message in case you rejected me…” 

Glimmer giggled. “You were worried I would reject you? I’ve been head over heels for you for almost a year now. To be honest, I only worked up the nerve to ask you out because people kept teasing me about having a crush on you…”

“What, really?” Adora was shocked. “My friends were pestering me too, I didn’t know my crush on you was so obvious… They kept telling me to ask you out, and finally I got courageous enough to listen to them! Even Catra was encouraging me, weirdly enough” 

Both girls laughed. “I guess we both had it bad, huh?” Adora reached out to take Glimmer’s hand, threading their fingers together. “Want to go to the movies tonight? Just the two of us?”

Glimmer nodded, her heart bursting. “Yes, I would love that, more than anything.”


End file.
